ASA will be regulating website and social media content from 1st March 2011

In September 2010 the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) announced its first above-the-line marketing campaign in 5 years to generate awareness of the new online marketing regulations that will be coming into effect on the 1st of March 2011. The ASA confirmed that the Committee of Advertising Practice’s (CAP) non-broadcast codes of conduct will now apply to all online marketing communication. Read More

Introduction

Communication is becoming much more segmented and personalised. Marketers are having to work harder to understand the requirements of each and every type of buyer and influencer at each stage of the long, complex construction sales supply chain. Added to this is the need to deliver relevant valuable content within all marketing efforts.Read More

We recently presented at the CIMCIG Digital Marketing Workshop in London about measuring what really matters to your bosses and directors .

The presentation focused on what construction marketers should be measuring if the aim of your marketing is lead generation. Your website is and should be the heart of your digital marketing strategy and it is a lead conversion tool – but is it doing its job? How do you know your marketing activities are working if you are not measuring leads by source or campaign?

Lead generation and conversion is an important marketing and business goal, so are you measuring how your website is performing? How many leads is your website generating and how many of them are converted into prospects? Which campaigns are working better than others? Where are you spending most of your budget and is it generating you leads? How can you reduce your spend yet increase conversions or generate good qualified leads?

Some marketers only report metrics such as visits and page views which doesn’t tell you anything. Marketers should instead report results and outcomes, not observations. Measure what matters!

First and foremost let’s get the definitions out of the way. What exactly is a lead you say? Well, a lead is simply a company or group of companies that you have identified as expressing some kind of interest in your products and/or services. Lead generation is the marketing term for the process of creating and generating the interest of potential prospects. It occurs when a visitor to your site (or other company touchpoints) takes action and makes additional contact with your company. There are several ways to increase lead generation and the main 5 will be discussed in further detail in this post. The purpose is to offer your target audience a wealth of relevant information that will shorten their buying cycle and convert targeted traffic into ‘hot’ prospects. This can be done through establishing your business and your team members as thought leaders in your industry.

*** If you are a constructionproduct manufacturer that has all the necessary (and more) product information on your website, including online applications such as product selectors, pricing guides, downloadable brochures or product specification datasheets, you are making an architects’ or specifiers’ product selection that much easier. Good, relevant technical information creates loyalty amongst those who specify products or require assistance from those who manufacture products.

Studies have shown that nearly begin the buying process by searching on the Internet. They use specific keywords to find companies that provide the products and services that they are looking for. Since they have a specific need in mind, they do not want to spend hours searching through large amounts of jargon and useless information. Instead they want valuable facts, information, results and most importantly, why they should pick you over your competitors. What makes you stand out? What is your USP? Your website represents you, your company and the products and services that you provide to your target market. Each page on your website has a different purpose with a set objective. Therefore all pages need to be optimised to work effectively and communicate your brand message to visitors.

A landing page is a page that prospects reach either through a direct link (maybe sent through email), search engine results, online advertising banners or PPC campaigns. Landing pages are not a website’s homepage but instead are separate pages that contain keywords matching the search phrases used by visitors. They should be designed to give visitors all the necessary information in one place so that it is easier for them to make an informed purchase decision. Visitors do not want to click through various website pages to find what they are looking for. They will simply move on and find one with a targeted landing page. There goes yet another missed opportunity! Therefore, targeted and optimised landing pages need to be a core part of your online marketing strategy to maximise lead generation.